None.
This invention relates in general to wall-mounted dispensers for soaps, lotions and other liquid of fluid materials and relates in particular to a wall-mounted dispenser having a back plate for mounting on the wall and a cover hingedly connected to the back plate and more particularly yet to locking means for locking the cover in the closed position with respect to the back plate.
It is well known that various types of dispensers can be utilized to dispense soaps, lotions or other liquids through various pump means. These dispensers take many forms such as freestanding, counter-mounted and wall-mounted.
The wall-mounted dispensers generally provide a compartment for receipt of a cartridge, bag or other item containing the material. These cartridges, bags, etc. are replaceable for purposes of refilling the dispenser. The pump means are attached to these replacement components and are actuated in various ways. In some instances, for example, they have been activated with a push bar hinged to the cover which engages a collapsible tube or pump extending from the replacement container. In that fashion, upon engagement and movement of the push bar against the tube or pump from the exterior of the dispenser, the pump is activated and a measured amount of the product is dispensed through the tube or pump. A wide variety of pumps and actuating means are known in the art and the present invention is not limited to use with any particularly style being more particularly directed to the means for locking the dispenser cover.
In that regard, these wall mounted dispensers commonly have a cover hingedly attached to the back plate which swings away from the mounting back plate to facilitate access to the interior for insertion and removal of the refills.
Typically, the cover is locked in place in the closed position, generally by a plate which is slidably engaged with the back plate and which has an engagement member at its top end for engagement with either the top end or the cover or a projection from the cover. The bottom end of the slidable plate is generally accessible from the bottom of the closed dispenser and can be activated by engaging the bottom edge of the plate and moving it upward to disengage the top projection from the cover thereby enabling the cover to be opened. Examples of this type of prior art can be seen in Kanfer U.S. Pat. No. 4,621,749; Bell U.S. Pat. No. 5,443,236; and Bell U.S. Pat. No. 5,465,877.
There are numerous other types of pumps and locking means known in the prior art and also numerous ways to activate the tube, pump or other projection from the dispenser either from the front or bottom of the closed dispenser. Similarly there are other types of means for engaging and disengaging the locking means.
A problem does exist, however, with the prior art in that anyone can easily engage the bottom of the sliding plate and open the dispenser either to vandalize the dispenser or to steal the replacement cartridge or to replace the cartridge with one containing material different from that which is indicated on the face of the dispenser cover. Similarly, other known locking devices are readily accessible from the exterior of the dispenser. Inasmuch as these dispensers are often located in areas such as public restrooms and other readily accessible to unobserved persons, it is believed desirable to provide a more secure locking arrangement.
Accordingly, the present invention is intended to overcome that difficulty by providing a locking system which is essentially inaccessible from the exterior of the dispenser and, indeed, invisible when the dispenser is closed and locked.
In accordance with the above, it has been found that an improved locking system, which is essentially inaccessible from the exterior of the dispenser, can be facilitated by the provision of a latch plate carried by the hinged cover of the dispenser and an elongate locking bar carried by the back plate of the dispenser intended to engage and disengage the latch to unlock and lock the cover in the closed position on the dispenser.
In furtherance of the invention, it is found that such a locking system can be developed by providing an engagement means slidably carried by the back plate of the dispenser and movable into and out of engagement with the locking bar so as to be capable of sliding it into and out of engagement with the latch plate of the cover upon actuation.
In further accordance with the principles of the invention, a key configured for slidable engagement with the engagement means can be provided wherein, upon engagement of the key with the engagement member and, thus, with the locking bar, the locking bar can be moved into and out of locking contact with the locking bar.
In furtherance of the principal object of the invention to provide a hidden locking means, it has been found that the engagement means can be provided with depending, opposed resilient legs which are flared at their ends so as to rest on the bottom of the cover out of sight when not actuated. It has been found then that the cover can be provided with apertures through which the key may be inserted so as to move the depending legs of the engagement means apart and engage the engagement means and, thus, the locking bar.
It accordingly then becomes the principal object of this invention to produce a hidden locking system for wall-mounted dispensers of the character above-described with other objects thereof becoming more apparent upon a reading of the following brief specification considered and interpreted in view of the accompanying drawings.